Arrested in bed with a madame called Ping Ping, the 'respected' accountant who turned his house into a brothel

Leslie Baleham was jailed for a year after admitting keeping a brothel

A married accountant who turned his house into a brothel is behind
bars after he was found naked in a bedroom full of cash with his Chinese
girlfriend.

Leslie Baleham, 64, was jailed for a year after a police surveillance
operation on the brothel recorded more than 400 men visiting in a
three-month period.

When officers swooped on the house, they found Baleham in bed with
his younger girlfriend, Ping Ping Li. The pair were said to be
surrounded with money.

Adrian Reynolds, prosecuting, told a court: ‘Never was the relationship between sex and money more clearly to be seen.’

Baleham was said to be ‘smitten’ with Li and the pair had a joint
account. Over two years, £57,000 was deposited in the account.

But Nottingham Crown Court heard the Chinese national – described as
the main player in the brothel’s operation – disappeared after her
lover’s arrest in May last year and has not been seen since.

The court heard the house was bought by Baleham and Li later moved in. It was used as a brothel for two years, but the defendant was said to be unaware of what the house was being used for for much of that period.

Mr Reynolds said: ‘It was clear from the money going into the bank account that the house was being used for prostitution.’

One police officer involved in the surveillance operation said it was the ‘busiest brothel’ he had ever investigated.

Harry Bowyer, defending, said Baleham ‘felt he was having a relationship’ with Li. He added: ‘Now he feels he has been used by her. He is now divorced from his wife.’

Mr Bowyer added his client was not involved in the day-to-day running of the brothel or the prostitutes that worked there, and was effectively the landlord.

The court heard Baleham made about £7,000 from money he received in rent. Baleham, of Radford, Nottingham, pleaded guilty to keeping a brothel and two charges of money-laundering.

The accountant formerly lived with his wife and two grown-up children in Oxford.

We are happy to make clear that the property that was used as a brothel was not Baleham's family home and his wife had no knowledge of the illegal activities.